Category: General Article

Liver Disease in Obese Cats (Hepatic Lipidosis)

The argument for a healthy diet for a pet cat is a strong one. Proper diet and regular exercise benefit cats just the same as humans. Overweight cats can become extremely sick. One such disease that seems to affect obese cats is hepatic lipidosis. Hepatic lipidosis is also known as feline fatty liver syndrome. The disease tends to affect females of the species more than males. It also tends to affect obese cats more than cats at a proper healthy weight. Cats are the only animals that develop this disease. If not treated immediately and aggressively, there is a 90 percent fatality rate. No one knows its cause, but obesity is something that can increase the chances of it.

Hepatic lipidosis tends to be triggered after a period of a loss of appetite within a cat. No one really comprehends why there is a loss of appetite in the first place, but this is where the disease first starts. The cat’s starving of self forces the body’s fat deposits to be run through the liver. The heavy amounts of fat being broken down by the liver essentially overwhelm it. The liver cannot process the fat that is being absorbed for sustenance fast enough. This is why the disease is much more dangerous for obese cats. Some cat owners have reacted to their cast’s refusal to eat food with indifference, while others have opted to force feed their pet. Both of the previous options shouldn’t be employed. The only real way to stay on top of such a potentially life-threatening disease is to take your pet to the vet at the first signs of anorexia.

Anorexia is the first stage of hepatic lipidosis, which can be followed by lethargy, vomiting and jaundice which is a yellowing of the gums, skin and inner ear. Extreme cases include drooling, blindness, semi-coma and seizures. All of these symptoms are signs that the cat should be taken to a veterinarian.

A veterinarian will be able to determine hepatic lipidosis with a blood test and an x-ray to determine the state of the liver. Obviously, the most complete way of diagnosing the disease is to determine the fat globules on the liver. This is usually done by an invasive procedure where part of the liver is extracted or a lesser technique where a sample is taken with a needle.

The solution to hepatic lipidosis requires aggressive feeding of the cat. Of course, some (again) resort to force feeding, which isn’t the best for the cat and gives the animal stress. Most argue that the best option to pursue during full-blown hepatic lipidosis is tube feeding. Tube feeding does introduce stress as well, with the options being a nose tube, a throat tube or a stomach tube. Even with tube feeding, the percentage of death is only reduced to 30 percent.

An intensive high protein diet for three to six weeks is what comes next. The liver stabilizes and the cat can eventually get back to its normal life. Cats have the ability to regenerate their livers rather quickly. Furthermore, the chances of a cat having this disease twice are rare.

With a potential 10 percent survival rate and a forced corrective diet, hepatic lipidosis is a strong argument against the perpetuation of feline obesity. Proper diet and exercise can be strong deterrents to this potentially fatal disease.…

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The Key Steps To Preventing Heart Disease And How To Implement Them Now For Maximum Results

Heart disease is not something to mess around with. It is serious, and for some, sadly it results in loss of life. So learning the key steps to preventing heart disease, and more importantly putting them into action, could be the deciding factor in how young or how old you live to be.

Millions die in the United States alone every single year from heart disease, and millions more survive, but with a considerable number of health problems.

The most common form of heart disease by far is coronary artery disease.

This disease is caused by plaque forming in the arteries, which can lead to blood clots developing. These clots can then result in partial or full blockages occurring in the arteries supplying the brain or heart. The outcome for you is a stroke or heart attack.

Preventing heart disease can be easily achieved, by tackling the primary cause head on – high blood cholesterol.

High blood cholesterol is a major risk factor for coronary artery disease and contributes to other risk factors if not properly dealt with.

The key steps to preventing heart disease, through proper cholesterol management are:

Diet

You have to start cutting down on the amount of foods you eat that are laden with saturated fats, trans fats and cholesterol. This includes animal and dairy products, fried foods, fast food, pre-packaged foods and processed foods.

Start eating more fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, whole grains and fish, as these contain good fats, soluble fiber and omega 3. We all know the heart healthy benefits of omega 3 since we were kids, getting our regular dose of cod liver oil.

The fact is though, our parents were not wrong. Taking omega 3 is a good way of preventing heart disease. If you are not able to eat fish, then give serious consideration to adding a quality fish oil supplement to your diet.

Exercise

As our lives get busier, we often struggle to fit any kind of exercise into our schedule, which is a big mistake health-wise. Get moving, even if it is only for 30 minutes every day, and your heart will thank you.

Supplements

Taking prescription medications is not the answer, as the side effects they contain generally do more harm than good to your health. Instead, look to add some good quality supplements to your diet, that will cover any shortfall you might have from the foods you are eating.

In particular, consider adding a natural cholesterol supplement, with purely natural cholesterol lowering ingredients, to give yourself every possible protection against heart disease, because you’re worth it.

If you are serious about preventing heart disease, then take action and pop over to my website today for more information.…

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Whether you are just starting out on your career journey or you are interested in switching professions, it is a good idea to consider entering a field that is currently facing an employee shortage. That way, you should have no trouble finding a job! Read on for some ideas.

Elder Care

As an elder care Floral Park NY professional, you would be in charge of helping people of advanced age navigate daily life, either in a nursing home or assisted living facility or by reporting to individuals’ homes. This work can be physically and emotionally challenging, but it can also be immensely rewarding, since you will be directly responsible for helping people of an advanced age maintain a good quality of life.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Diversity, equity and inclusion (D, E & I) is a relatively new and rapidly growing field. Workplaces, schools and other institutions are hiring experts to oversee their hiring, admissions and other internal processes to ensure that they are conducted in a way that is inclusive of all genders, sexual orientations and racial and ethnic groups. Look into classes and certificate programs to learn more about how to get started.

Teaching

Schools are always looking for high-quality teachers, and now is a great time to embark on a teaching career. Try to get some experience working with a variety of age groups, including elementary schoolers, middle schoolers and high schoolers so that you can decide which grade level will suit you best. Tutoring part-time is a good way to dip your toe into the field before deciding to obtain a teaching certification.

Deciding on a career and going through a job search isn’t easy, but choosing a field with high demand can make the process somewhat smoother to navigate. Try to do plenty of research and get some job-shadowing experience before making your final decision.…

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Liver Disease Symptoms and Chronic Liver Failure

Some 50 per cent of the sufferers with an underlying liver condition show no signs of the disease. The symptoms are actually very ordinary, as for example excessive tiredness and exhaustion, lack of drive, and episodic itching. Symptoms of liver malfunctioning which are more common are jaundice or yellowing of the skin and eyes, dark-colored urine, bowel movements, very pale or light colored excrement, mental confusion, bleeding from the gastrointestinal tract, and retention of fluids in the abdomen or belly.

The first symptoms of a chronic liver condition are quite like those accompanying some other diseases. Often, the symptoms occur when the patient’s liver is affected to a considerable extent. Individuals suffering from a liver disease may also have eating disorders, associated with rapid loss of weight, excessive drinking of water, and frequent urination. Reduced consumption of food might lead to anemia or severe weakness.

Generally, the usual symptoms of liver failure, which might show at first, are the following: loss of appetite, nausea, diarrhea, weakness, lethargy, and fatigue. As the disease aggravates, the symptoms become more and more pronoun, eventually resulting in liver failure.

During this last phase, the liver has either lost the capacity to function completely or has become cancerous. In case the organ is affected to that extent, transplantation often becomes essential for survival.

The sick person might become severely discolored, with that being more prominent than in other stages of the liver condition.

Swelling of the stomach and extreme symptoms which showed in the early stages will also dramatically increase. Sickness, diarrhea, appetite loss, and hallucinations may often be present in these patients. The overall health can deteriorate as well. The majority of symptoms might show in the early phases of liver failure, but they may not be visible until the condition enters an advanced stage. This is because the presence of some of the above warning signs is normal in sufferers with liver disease. Other symptoms are:

Pale Colored Excrement: This occurs because the liver is unable to produce bile. So, the stool becomes dark-colored because of the bile.

Jaundice: This represents a liver disease and is the chief sign of liver failure. The presence of jaundice shows that there is a liver problem. In this condition, the coloration of the skin changes to pale yellow. The white portion of the eye might also turn yellow. When the liver isn’t working well, jaundice often appears.

Severe Itching: It is the result of bile deposition in the skin.

Abdominal Pain: Here, the patient’s liver is enlarged and inflammatory processes have taken place.

Increased Bruising and Bleeding: The patient bleeds and bruises easily. The major reason is the inability of the liver to create life-sustaining coagulant proteins.

Blood Sugar Irregularities: This condition develops as the organ is incapable of assisting the pancreas in carbohydrates’ metabolism.

Other symptoms that might occur in this phase of liver failure are muscle tremors, depressive dispositions, and even seizures.…

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Healthy Heart – Simple Heart Disease Prevention Tips

Women are less likely to survive heart attacks compared to men. People think that breast cancer is something killing women but heart disease comes a lot before that. So this is why both men and women are at high stakes when it comes to heart diseases and in order to avoid such situations, one should do all what it takes to prevent heart problems. For your concern, I am discussing some simple heart disease prevention tips which are easy to apply in your daily routine.

You should check your blood pressure levels regularly. Narrow arteries promote higher blood pressure level, this happens when plaque gets stuck in vessels. When this pressure increases, particles of arterial plaque get dislodged into the blood stream promoting a heart attack. You can either visit a doctor or purchase a blood pressure monitor to keep a check on you. Your blood pressure should not be too low either so make sure it stays where it needs to be.

Secondly, you must get rid of your excessive weight (if there is a need). Over weight and heart diseases are directly proportional to one another. Start losing weight if you are obese otherwise you are at high risk of confronting heart diseases. Strain on your back, your legs and your heart increases when you carry more then normal weight on your body.

Cholesterol levels need to be kept down. Get your cholesterol levels checked at least twice every year. Artery walls experience plaque deposits when cholesterol is high in the body. Plaque results in narrow vessels boosting the blood pressure. HDL, LDL and triglycerides are the 3 main components of cholesterol. LDL is responsible for these plaques build up while HDL helps in removing them and maintaining the overall cholesterol level. While the 3rd component triglycerides are like a fatty substance in the blood and if their level is high, heart might be at a risk. A cholesterol level of 200 mg/dl is best recommended from doctors.

Make some changes to your diet as well. Greasy and fatty foods need to be prevented along with increasing the consumption of veggies, fresh fruits, low fat dairy products and whole grains. Eat lean beef, fish, pork and seafood for proteins along with taking a multivitamin every day. All this would make sure that your body is getting all the essential nutrients it needs for its proper functioning. Get yourself checked for diabetes as well since it promotes heart disease greatly. Insulin shots and a dietary change might just take care of this problem.

Above mentioned were just a few simple heart disease prevention tips, implement them in your daily routine as soon as you possible can for the sake of your health and a healthy heart.…

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A Diet for a Healthy Heart

Anything worth working for requires strong commitment and persistence to achieve. With anything important, you need to follow a definite plan over time to accomplish your goal.

A healthy heart is no exception. You can’t have one without living healthy. And Healthy living can’t be achieved without a healthy diet. Here are five basic steps for a healthy diet.

One – avoid bad fat in your diet. The saturated fat and trans fats found largely in red meat, whole milk dairy, coconut and palm oils, almost all processed foods and Crisco are killers. These unhealthy fats lead to high cholesterol, high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease by clogging the arteries. As much as you can, eliminate saturated and trans fats from your daily diet. It will significantly lower your risk of cardiovascular disease.

Two – avoid white flour products. Bread, cereal and pasta made from highly refined white flour are processed in the body just the same as sugar. White rice has a similar reaction. These highly processed foods elevate blood sugar levels putting enormous stress on the pancreas to produce extra insulin. Eventually the pancreas breaks down causing diabetes.

Instead, eat only 100% whole grain foods. They’re rich in complex carbohydrates and fiber and will help improve your circulation, prevent diabetes and control your weight.

Three – eat more vegetables and fruits. Experts recommend from five and to nine servings a day. Of all foods, fruit and vegetables offer the most valuable nutrition per calorie. They’re high in vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and fiber and low in fat. They will also support weight control. For insurance, you might also consider taking good quality natural nutritional supplements.

Four – eat more beans, lentils and peas. They have nearly as much protein and fiber as meat, but without the fat and cholesterol. If you’re preparing meat, be sure to broil, bake or roast it after trimming outside fat and skin. It’s the healthiest way to cook meat.

Five – choose non-fat or low fat dairy. Whole milk dairy products (cheese, yogurt and ice cream) are much too high in saturated fat for a healthy heart diet. Eating no more than four eggs a week is also a good idea.

Follow these five tips and you’ll have a much healthier heart. You’ll also have the satisfaction of reaching a good goal. So enjoy your success.

But if ignore these tips, you could be setting yourself up for a lot of trouble. Are you aware that in 50% of heart disease the very first symptom is death by heart attack!…

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Learn How Milk Thistle Helps Liver Disease

Let’s face it. Most researchers are aware that milk thistle helps liver disease. Their studies now concern how it helps or why it is beneficial. You might be interested in what they know, currently.

Like most herbs, seeds, nuts and other plant life, the blessed milk thistle contains numerous compounds. Nutrients essential to human health may be present in the stems and roots. The entire plant is edible and was, at one time, a popular food item.

The seeds of the plant contain unique compounds called silymarin or Silibinin, according to modern researchers. The seeds have long been a part of traditional healing. They were used to treat infections and diseases, as well as hangovers, long before any active component was identified.

The activities of silymarin include anti-viral, anti-oxidant, anti-hyperglycemic, anti-cancer and liver-protective benefits. The research is still preliminary, although some of the phase-1 studies have been completed.

When evaluating a pharmaceutical agent, researchers begin with test tube studies. They progress to animal studies. Then, if things look promising, they go on to phase-1 clinical trials, which are composed of human volunteers.

Researchers have already seen milk thistle help liver disease, when administered intravenously; injected directly into the bloodstream. One recent study looked at the dosage necessary to raise serum silymarin levels, when the extract is taken orally. They found that a 700mg dose was necessary to significantly raise blood levels, because of poor bioavailability or absorption into the bloodstream.

Another study found that co-supplementation with a nutrient called lecithin increased the amount of silymarin absorbed by 10 times. Extrapolating from that study, it can be estimated that 70mg of silymarin extract, if combined with lecithin would be enough to raise serum levels.

If milk thistle helps liver disease caused by hepatitis, it is likely due to the anti-viral activity. The reason that it protects the liver from exposure to toxins is most likely due to the anti-oxidant activity.

Anti-oxidants are among our best friends. If we try to keep our body’s anti-oxidant status high, by eating fruits, vegetables and other plant foods, we may be able to prevent diseases caused by free radical damage and even protect our skin against damage done by exposure to UV radiation from the sun.

UV damage is one of the major causes or wrinkles, sagging and other signs of aging. Simply avoiding the sun can reduce those things, because the damage is reparable. To speed the process, you can increase your anti-oxidant intake and use a cream containing them.

Watching milk thistle help liver disease is exciting for researchers. Watching it fight cancer and protecting the bodily organs from the damage normally caused by chemotherapy is exciting, too.

Watching your appearance improve and your energy levels increase would be exciting for you. Just remember that not all supplements are the same and that taking a supplement is only one part of an effective treatment plan.

Researchers are pretty sure why milk thistle helps liver disease and protects against further damage. Now, you know why, too.

You can learn more insights by visiting my web site and discovering more natural ingredients I personally use daily.…

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